Skype, FaceTime, Facebook, and more have revolutionized how we communicate with others. It continues to blow my mind how we are busting through the walls of communication to work with others who are miles apart. It’s more normal these days to collaborate with people across the planet, in many ways, than it is to collaborate with those across the hall. It’s a brave new world.

One new app that can make communication simpler, in many ways, is Collaaj. It’s an app that lets you communicate to others using video, audio, and your Mac. It’s the collaboration of Skype combined with the simpleness of email, in a way that’ll help you get your point across to others better than you could with just text and images but without having to be online at the same time.

We’ve taken an in-depth look at Collaaj over at Mac.AppStorm, using the Mac app, but it’s equally great even if you’re only working on the web. Read the full article to get the scoop on why you should try out Collaaj.

Outside of reading numerous different tech blogs on a daily basis, I keep up with my technology news through podcasts. There are a lot of great tech podcasters out there that not only keep you up to date on the latest and greatest, but also offer a huge amount of insight into the tech world. Most of the time, I use my iPhone to store and play them in my car or while I am out and about.

But, I don’t always want to use my iPhone to play podcasts, especially when I am at my desk working on my computer. Yes, I could use iTunes and just play them through it, but today I am going to talk about another alternative. I came across Podcast Gallery about a week ago and it is a web based app where I can find and play a variety of podcasts. It actually is a pretty nifty alternative for those of you that are looking for something that is on the web. Let’s take a more in depth look at it.

In the past couple of years, my writing workflow has evolved to accommodate my changing habits, which now include working from wherever I am, thanks to my handy smartphone and physical-keyboard-and-tablet combo. I use them to jot down notes at events and conferences, take screenshots to illustrate points and of late, I’ve begun to record voice notes and calls for interviews, which greatly reduces the time I spend preparing content for articles.

There’s just one problem with recorded notes though: you have to convert them into editable text yourself. Transcribing requires you to listen, pause, type, and repeat until you’re done — and I had not come across a way to do this elegantly, until recently when I stumbled upon Transcribe Pro. This clever app combines robust audio playback control and note-taking for a simple web-based solution to your transcription woes. Today I’d like to show you how I get my work done, and how you can get the most out of Transcribe Pro.

As anyone working in the record industry will attest, virtually all music is now consumed digitally. There is a massive market for digital downloads, but there is also a huge number of music fans who get their fix through streaming sources.

Songdrop is a free service that can be used to access music from all of your favorie streaming sites in one place – no more jumping from site to site. Let’s take a look and see how it can simplify listening to the music you love online.

The Internet has made it possible for anyone to become a writer with the click of a button. Naturally, the number of quality articles have increased, which are more easily discovered by curators such as LongForm, Kottke, TheBrowser, and more. Invariably, it means that you won’t have enough time to read everything that catches your fancy. So here’s an idea: why not listen to it on your commute?

A new web app called SoundGecko makes the process super-simple by converting any article you want into an MP3 file, using text-to-speech technology. The audio files are sent to your email inbox and can be synced with your Google Drive or Dropbox. There’s also the option of listening to your files in the form of a podcast from any device. Let’s get started: (more…)

Ever since Youtube was launched in 2005, it has become increasingly popular to share any form of media via the web. The days of taking a tape or DVD over to your friend’s house are over; instead, we’ll email a link or post it on Facebook. While Youtube and Vimeo dominate the video sharing category, another site, SoundCloud, pioneered a unique niche: audio sharing.

Described as the “world’s leading social sound platform,” SoundCloud is an excellent example of a product built on the needs and preference of the consumer. Most of us are already sharing songs and audio online, but usually we’re awkwardly sharing it with YouTube videos. SoundCloud provides another option, letting you directly share audio with your social networks.